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PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Child
passenger safety is a critical component of the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Buckle Up America! campaign.
Research indicates that the proper use of child safety seats reduces
fatal crash injuries for infants under 1 year old by 69 percent, and
toddlers 1 to 4 years old by 47 percent. To help the State of Washington
meet national goals to reduce child occupant fatalities by 15 percent
by the year 2000, NHTSA's Region 10 office assisted Barrier Motors,
a Bellevue area Volvo dealership, in developing a child safety seat
program.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of the Barrier
Motors Volvo Child Safety Seat Program, developed in 1999, is to promote
Buckle Up America!, as well as the correct use of child safety
seats in the Puget Sound region of Washington. Specific objectives of
the effort are to:
- Develop a partnership
with the Bellevue community to encourage child passenger safety among
community residents
- Investigate the feasibility
of providing child safety seats, at no charge, with the purchase of
a vehicle
- Choose child safety seats
that are compatible with the various vehicle models sold by Barrier
Motors
- Contact safety seat manufacturer
representatives to purchase appropriate child safety seats in bulk
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
In
1998, staff from NHTSA's Region 10 met with dealership representatives
to fully explain the Buckle Up America! concept, and the importance
of an automobile dealer promoting correct occupant protection use, particularly
in the area of child passenger safety. A Barrier Motors Volvo staff
member attended a session of the National Standardized Child Passenger
Safety Certification Training, and then helped to educate other dealership
employees in child passenger safety and issues relating to air bags.
This allowed employees to receive "hands on" knowledge of child passenger
safety. They were also given additional instruction about the occupant
protection systems in their vehicles and became familiar with information
provided in the owner's manual about the systems.
Because safety
is still one of the top priorities concerning consumers when choosing
an automobile, giving away child safety seats with a vehicle purchase
is a sound investment for the dealerships. In addition to the distribution
of safety seats, Barrier Motors Volvo is in the process of developing
a series of occupant protection promotional materials to market their
dealership program. Region 10 staff will review the materials for technical
assistance and accuracy, the dealership plans to use them in their advertisements.
Radio public service announcements were developed to help promote the
program
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